retainer

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act of retaining dependents; entrance into service as a retainer; the state of being a retainer.
• noun That by which a person's services are secured; a fee.
• noun Specifically, in law:
• noun Same as retaining fee (which see, under fee).
• noun An authority given to an attorney or a solicitor to proceed in an action
• noun The unlawful taking or detention of a known servant from his master during the period of service.
• noun The act of an executor or administrator who is a creditor of the decedent, or whose estate he represents, in withholding from the fund so much as will pay what is due him: formerly allowed to be done even before any other creditors whose debts were of equal degree were paid.
• noun One who or that which retains.
• noun One who is kept in service; a dependent; an attendant; especially, a follower who wears his master's livery, but ranks higher than a domestic.
• noun A sutler, camp-follower, or any person serving with an army who, though not enlisted, is subject to orders according to the rules and articles of war.
• noun One who is connected with or frequents a certain place; an attendant.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun One who, or that which, retains.
• noun One who is retained or kept in service; an attendant; an adherent; a hanger-on.
• noun Hence, a servant, not a domestic, but occasionally attending and wearing his master's livery.
• noun The act of a client by which he engages a lawyer or counselor to manage his cause.
• noun The act of withholding what one has in his hands by virtue of some right.
• noun A fee paid to engage a lawyer or counselor to maintain a cause, or to prevent his being employed by the opposing party in the case; -- called also retaining fee.
• noun The act of keeping dependents, or the state of being in dependence.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun A dependent or follower of someone of rank.
• noun A paid servant, especially one who has been employed for many years.
• noun Any thing or person that retains.
• noun A fee one pays to reserve the other's time for services.
• noun dentistry : A device that holds teeth in position after orthodontic treatment.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a fee charged in advance to retain the services of someone
• noun a person working in the service of another (especially in the household)
• noun a dental appliance that holds teeth (or a prosthesis) in position after orthodontic treatment